Continuous mining apparatus having core forming means and multiple core dislodging devices



J. F. JOY

Oct. 27, 1959 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 6, 1950 R3 m a mww a w s 0 Na H Oct. 27, 1959 JOY 2,910,283

CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORMING MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 1220622202: (fasepZz (fa/6y.

Oct. 27, 1959 J. F. JOY 2,910,283

CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORMING MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 1222 622202: Joseph fL/Og; Z9

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Oct. 27, 1959 J F. JOY

CONTINUOUS MINING APIARATUS HAVING CORE FORMIN MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 1720622202: JsepZz @Jay,

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Oct. 27, 1959 J F JOY 2,910,283 I CONTINUOUS MINING AP PAR ATUS HAVING CORE FORMING MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 dZZorzzey.

A 2,910,283 CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORMING 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 F. JOY

MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 Oct. 27, 1959 [22226222022- Joseph Iii/0y. MEZQ MW 02202 2269.

0a. 27, 1959 J. F. JOY A 2,9

CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORMING MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed NOV. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 12727622202: JosepZz a ify.

J. F. JOY 2,910,283

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Oct. 27, 1959 CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORMING MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 A IH I \LIL ukt uh Elfin IM ,1. i

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2,910,283 MIN CORE FOR G J F CONTI US MINING AR ME S AND MULTI CO SLO NG DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1950 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 12227622202: Jaaepk 7? Jay.

United States CONTINUOUS MINING APPARATUS HAVING CORE FORIVHNG MEANS AND MULTIPLE CORE DISLODGING DEVICES Joseph F. Joy, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Joy Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 6, 1950, Serial No. 194,259

' 4 Claims. (31. 262-) This invention relates to mining apparatus and more particularly to a continuous mining apparatus for dislodging and disintegrating the mineral of a solid mine vein and for transporting the dislodged mineral to a suitable point of delivery, in a substantially uninterrupted manner.

The present invention relates to improvements over the mining apparatus disclosed in my copending applications Serial No. 725,950, filed February 1, 1947 and Serial No. 146,883, filed February 28, 1950 now respectively matured into Patent No. 2,801,093, granted July 30, 1957 and Patent No. 2,801,091, granted July 30, 1957. In the mining apparatus of these copending applications, kerf cutting means is provided for cutting out a rectan: gular-shaped core of mineral from a solid mine vein, and wedge type breaker or burster means is associated with the core cutting means whereby the core of mineral defined by the rectangular kerf or slot is dislodged from. the face of the solid vein. The kerf cutting means for cutting the rectangular kerf or slot defining the boundaries of the core of mineral to be dislodged consisted of a pair of relatively movable rotary cutters which were independently guided and operated and which cooperated to form the kerf surrounding a core of mineral, and the mineral dislodged by the Wedge type breaker was received by conveying means for moving the dislodged mineral rearwardly from the face of the mine vein to a suitable point of delivery. Also, the present inven tion relates to improvements over the structure of my,

Patent No. 2,093,448, granted September 21, 1937, wherein a rectangular, open-centered frame provided a rectangular guideway for an endless loop cutter which, when advanced toward the mine face, cut out a core of mineral from a solid mine vein and which had coacting' applications and patents in that improved means are pro vided for cutting and dislodging the solid mineral and for conveying the dislodged mineral to a suitable point of delivery in a substantially uninterrupted manner. The apparatus of the present invention is of the type known as a square face miner and is especially designed for use in the continuous mining of mineral such as coal in underground mines having low headroom, and embodies structural improvements whereby the coal is cut and dislodged in an extremely eflicient manner.- The apparatus of the present invention is not only extremely low and compact and rugged in design, but is also flexible in operation and readily controllable, well adapted to perform its intended functions in an underground coal mine.

'An object of the present invention is .to provide an improved mining apparatus embodying novel features of design. Another object is to provide an improved mining apparatus especially designed for use in the continuous mining of mineral from a solid mine vein of an underground mine. Yet another object is to provide improved kerf cutting means embodying a circulating loop cutter for cutting out a rectangular core or section of mineral from a solid mine vein, together with associated means for dislodging the core or section of mineral with a wedging-bursting action whereby the core of mineral is effectually dislodged from the face of the solid mine vein, without the necessity of blasting. A further object is to provide an improved cutter head for a continuous mining apparatus having an open-centered, rectangular frame and novel cutting means in the form of an endless loop cutter guided for circulation about the cutter frame for forming a rectangular core or section of mineral in a solid mine vein and having novel driving means for the endless loop cutter. A still further object is to provide an improved continuous mining apparatus of the above character having novel means arranged within the rectangular frame and engaging the core or defined area of mineral for dislodging the mineral so engaged ascutting progresses. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will, however, hereinafter more fully appear in the course of the ensuing description and as more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 4

In the accompanying drawings there are shown for purposes ofillustration two forms which the invention may assumein practice.

In these drawings:

Figs. 1 and 1a, taken together, constitute a plan view of a mining apparatus constructed in accordance with a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Figs. 2 and 2a, taken together, constitute a side elevational view of the mining apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 1a.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken substantially on line 3---3 of Fig. 2, showing details of'the wedge type bursters and the associated drills.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in central longitudinal vertical section taken substantially on line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a front end elevational view of the mining apparatus, showing the rectangular loop cutter and the arrangement of the coal bursters and conveying means with respect thereto.

, stantially on line '77 of Fig. 2, with parts shown in plan to facilitate illustration.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail horizontal section taken on line 88 of Fig. 5, illustrating a portion of the cutter chain drive.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a mining apparatus constructed in accordance with a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a side elevational view of the mining apparatus shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a schematic transverse section and Fig. 12 is a schematic longitudinal vertical section illustrating the manner of dislodging mineral such as coal from the face of a solid mine vein.

In the preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, as disclosed in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, there is shown a continuous mining apparatus of the so-called square structure generally designated 2 which may assume varions known forms but it is herein, for illustrative purposes, shown to be in the form of a walking or creeper base which may, in certain respects, be similar to that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 725,950, above referred to, and which includes a bottom skid or pan 3 having a smooth bottom surface adapted to rest upon and move over the floor of a mine. This bottom skid provides parallel longitudinal guideways 4 for slidingly receiving longitudinal guides 5 provided by the sides of a bottom plate 6 of a main frame 7 of the apparatus. The bottom skid, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, has lateral plate portions or projections 8 (see also Fig. 7) on which upright extensible power jacks 9 are mounted, and these jacks comprise vertical cylinders 10 having aligned cylinder bores 11 in which are reciprocable jack pistons 12 and 13 respectively, provided with oppositely extending piston rods 14 and 15 projecting from the packed upper and lower heads of the jack cylinders. The upper piston rod 15 carries a roof engaging plate 16 while the lower piston rods have pointed lower ends 17 and these piston rods are respectively engageable with the roof and floor of a mine. Thus, when liquid under pres-' sure is supplied through suitable connections 18 to the. cylinder bores intermediate the adjacent faces of the jack pistons 12 and 13, the latter are concurrently moved in opposite directions to engage the roof and floor of the mine thereby firmly to hold the bottom skid against move ment.

The main frame 7 of the mining apparatus has upright extensible power jacks 20 located in advance of the jacks 9 and which comprise vertical cylinders 21 mounted in brackets 22 rigidly secured to frame portions 23 integral with the main frame 7. These vertical cylinders contain pistons having piston rods projecting downwardly through the packed lower cylinder heads and secured to the lower ends of these piston rods are floor engaging shoes 26. Thus, when liquid under pressure is supplied through suitable top connections 27 to the upper ends of the cylinders 21, the pistons are first moved downwardly until the shoes 26 engage the mine floor and thereafter the main frame and bottom skid are tilted upwardly in a vertical plane lengthwise of the apparatus while the rearward portion of the skid remains in supported contact with the mine floor. Carried by the main frame 7, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7, are parallel longitudinally extending feeding, repositioning, and retracting cylinders 29,29 which contain pistons 30 having rearwardly extending piston rods 31 projecting rearwardly through the packed rear cylinder heads and rigidly secured at their rear ends at 32 to a transverse frame portion 33 integral with the bottom skid.

Thus, when liquid under pressure is supplied through the proper ones of front and rear fluid connections 34 and the bottom skid is held stationary by the jacks 9, the

main frame 7 may be slid longitudinally either forwardly or rearwardly relative to the then-stationary bottom skid 3. When the main frame 7 and the skid are tilted up either direction, as is also fully disclosed in the copending application Serial No. 725,950 above referred to. If. desired, a walking or creeper base structure, similar to that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 146,885, filed February 28, 1950, now matured into Patent No. 2,800,968, granted July 30, 1957, may be employed to advance, steer, and retract the apparatus, instead of that described above.

The advancing and retracting valve mechanism 36 (Fig. 7) having an automatic shift 7 ing mechanism 37 whereby the valve is automatically shifted at the ends of the strokes of the cylinders 29 and the flow of liquid under pressure to the several jacks and cylinders may be manually controlled by a rotary hand valve device 38 (Fig. 2), in the manner fully disclosed in the above mentioned application, Serial No. 146,885. Evidently, under certain conditions, in lieu of the creeper base, a base of the wheel mounted or the crawler type may be employed, although, evidently, a base of the type disclosed lends itself favorably to a structure of the type disclosed wherein extremely low height is desired.

The main frame 7 of the mining apparatus carries a conventional motor 40, arranged horizontally and longitudinally of the main frame intermediate the floor jacks 20, and mounted on the forward portion of the main frame in a transverse upright position across the front of the apparatus is a rectangular, open-centered guide frame 41 providing a guideway 42 in which an endless loop cutter 43v is guided for circulation in an orbital path. The guide frame is herein desirably of generally rectangul ar shape, as viewed from the front end of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 5 and has a rectangular central opening 44. Also, arranged on the main frame in advance of the motor is a gear housing 45 and extending between the top of the guide frame 41, centrally between the sides of the latter and the top of the gear housing, is a bracearm or strut 46 which rigidly braces the 7 upper portion of the guide frame. The endless loop cutter 43, which travels in arectangular orbital path about the guide, frame, is, in the form of a pivoted link cutter chain comprising a series of chain blocks 47 pivotally connected by pivot elements or studs 48 to intermediate strap links 49. As shown most clearly in Fig. 8, the chain blocks comprise outer plates 50 and inner plates 51, secured together by the studs and the studs have intermediate enlarged cylindrical portions 52 providing opposed shoulders and spacing the inner and outer plates, and a nut 53 is threaded on the outer threaded portion of each stud to hold the plates in rigid spaced relation with the intermediate strap links pivotally engaging the enlarged intermediate portions of the studs. The outer plates have lateral lugs 54 in which cutter bits 55 are mounted.

The inner plates 51 of the chain blocks of the endlessloop cutter have teeth 57 which, as shown most clearly in Fig. 8, are engaged by the teeth of a large spur gear the longitudinal median plane of the main frame, and

keyed to the front end of the motor shaft is a bevel pinion 61 meshing with a large bevel gear 62 secured to a 1 vertical shaft 63 suitably journaled for rotation within the gear housing 45. Secured to the shaft 63, above the movements and, under certain conditions, the steering;

movements may be controlled automatically by a shifter' bevel gear 62, is a. spur pinion 64 meshing with and drivinga large, spur gear 65 having its hub suitably journaled on a vertical shaft 66, the latter in turn suitably journaled for rotation within the gear housing in parallelisrn withand. in advance of the vertical shaft 63. A conventional sliding toothed or gear clutch 67 is shiftahle by a shifter yoke 68 for connecting the gear hub to the shaft 66., This shifter yoke is provided with suitable operating connections including an operating handle 69 conveniently located exteriorly of the gear housing at one side of the machine frame (see Fig. l). Keyed to the lower end of the shaft 66 and arranged in a horizontal gear chamber 70 formed within the lower portion of the main frame is a spur gear 71 which engages and drives the large spur gear 58. The gear 58, as shown in Pig. 4, is arranged in the gear chamber '70 and the guide frame is horizontally recessed or cut away at 72 so that the gear 58 may extend forwardly into driving engagement with the teeth on the endless cutter chain. Thus, when theclutch 67 is connected, the loop cutter chain 43 maybe, rapidly circulated along a rectangular-shaped orbital path about the guideway of the rectangular guide frame 41. I

Mounted at the sides of the upper portion of the gear housing 45 and spaced equidistantly from the central longitudinal median line of the main frame, are wedge type breaker devices or coal bursters generally designated 75 and associated drills 76. These breaker wedge devices and drills may be generally like those disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 725,950 mentioned above and, in certain respects, like that of my Patent No. 1,273,869, dated July 30, 1918. This pair of breaker devices extends longitudinally within the open-center of the guide frame for the endless loop cutter 43 and are desirably located midway between the top and bottom of the guide frame and are spaced equally from the sides of the guide frame, in the manner shown in Fig. 5. Each of these devices comprises, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, a gear casing 77 integral with the gear housing 45 and having a forward tubular portion 78 in which a longitudinal shaft 79 is suitably journaled. Threadedly secured at 80 to the forward projecting end of the shaft 79 is a wedge member 81 of tapered frusto-conical form having spiral, screw-threadlike, vanes or ribs 82 formed on its exterior periphery. Extending axially through a central bore 83 in the shaft 79 is a shaft 84 to which is attached at 85 a drill rod 86 which extends axially through a central bore 87 formed in the wedge member 81. Secured to the forward projecting end of the drill rod in advance of the wedge member is a conventional drill bit 88. Formed on the drill rod are spiral vanes 89 of a screw conveyor which serves to convey the cuttings rearwardly from the drill bit through the central bore 87 in the wedge member to lateral cuttings-discharge openings 90 formed in the rearward portion of the wedge member.

Now referring to the driving means for the wedge members and drill bits, it will be noted thatkeyed to the upper end of the shaft 66 (Fig. 4) is a bevel gear 92 which meshes with and drives coaxial bevel gears 93 (one of which is shown in Fig. 3) fixed to the inner adjacent ends of aligned transverse shafts 94 suitably journaled within the upper portion of the gear housing 45. Keyed to the outer ends of these aligned shafts are bevel gears 95 meshing with and driving bevel gears 96 keyed to the rear ends of longitudinal shafts 97 which are aligned with the shafts 79. The shafts 97 are suitably journaled within the gear casings 77 and each has secured thereto a spur pinion 9S meshing at its opposite sides with large spur gears 99 fixed to parallel longitudinal shafts 100. These parallel shafts are spaced equidistantly from the shaft 97 at the opposite sides thereof and are suitably journaled within the gem casing 77. Secured to the shafts 100 are small spur gears 101 meshing with a large spur gear 102 at the opposite sides of the latter, and the gear 102 is fixed to the rear end of the longitudinal shaft 79. The drill drive shaft 84 is secured at 103 to, and is driven by, the shaft 97. Thus, when the motor 40 is running, the wedge members and the drill bits may be concurrently driven in the same direction, with the speed of rotation of the drill bits substantially greater than the speed of rotation of the wedge members.

Again referring to the rectangular guide frame 41, it will be noted that the same may be composed of U-shaped side frame parts 104 and straight, parallel, top and bottomcross frame parts 105 with the four coacting parts rigidly secured together as by screws 106, certain of which are shown in Fig. l, engaging lugs 107 on the adjacent joining ends of the parts. Overlying the bottom plate 6 of the main frame is a horizontal receiving plate 108 which flares out laterally at 109 at its forward portion to substantially the full width of the cutter frame and has jointed, upright side retaining walls 110 secured in position by vertical bolts 111, whereby the dislodged coal as it falls through the open center of the cutter frame onto the horizontal plate 108 is submain frame.

. 6 stantially prevented against lateral displacement beyond the sides of the horizontal plate.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, extending along the sides of the forward portion of the main frame of the apparatus and partially across the horizontal receiving plate 108 are guideway providing elements and 116 respectively, along which an endless conveyor 117 is guided for circulation, and extending upwardly and reanwardly along the sides of the gear housing 45 are bottom plates 118 having upright side plates 119 secured thereto as by welding to define troughlike passageways 120 extending upwardly from the top surface of the receiving plate 108 and rearwardly along the opposite sides of the Pivotally mounted at 122 on the rearward portion of the conveyor frame is a horizontally. swingable rear discharge conveyor frame 123 having adjacent parallel guideway providing portons 124, 124 (Figs. 1 and 1a) spaced equidistantly from the longitudinal median line of the rear conveyor frame 123. v Arranged coaxially with the pivot or swivel 122 is a curved vertical guide plate or arcuate guide 125 having a partially circular surface 126 and overlying a partially circular horizontal bottom plate portion 127 of the rearward portion of the forward conveyor frame. This curved guide plate 125 has oppositely curved, forwardly extending portions 127 which substantially join with the guideways of the members 115, and the forward portions of the guideway providing members 124 have oppositely curved or outwardly bent portions 128 which substantially join with the opposite side surfaces of the curved guide plate 125. The guideway providing portions 124 on the swingable rear conveyor frame 123 are joined at their rear ends by a semicircular guiding surface 129 (see Fig. la) formed on a guide block 130 adjustably mounted on the rear end of the swingable conveyor frame portion 123. The endless conveyor comprises a universal type drive chain 131 which is guided for orbital circulation along the guideways provided by the elements 115, 116, 125, 124

and 130, and secured to this chain at spaced intervals are laterally projecting, forwardly curved flights 132 formed with sharpened wear-resisting-teeth 133, and these flights are adapted to move within the troughlike passageways 120 of the forward conveyor frame and similar troughlike passageways 134 formed by a bottom plate 135 and integral upright side plates 136 of the rearward conveyor frame 123. The conveyor flights, as the conveyor is driven, move transversely over the for ward portion of the horizontal plate 108 and engage the dislodged and disintegrated coal which has fallen through the open-center 44 of the cutter frame onto the horizontal receiving plate 108 during the cutting and dislodging operation, and this front receiving portion of.

the conveyor moves the dislodged coal laterally and then upwardly and rearwardly along one of the troughlike passageways 120 at one side of the front conveyor frame, rearwardly past the swivel of the swingable rear conveyor frame 123 and then rearwardly along one of the troughlike passageways 134 at one side of the rear conveyor frame to discharge through a bottom opening 137 in the rearward end portion of the swingable rear conveyor frame, as the conveyor chain moves around the curved surface 129 of the rear guide block 130. The return run of the conveyor chain then travels forwardly along the troughlike passageway at the opposite side of the rear conveyor frame, forwardly past the swivel thereof, and then forwardly along the troughlike pas sageway at the opposite side of the front conveyor frame and then again across the front end of the main frame over the horizontal plate 108 into a position to again receive the dislodged and disintegrated coal.

The conveyor 117 is also driven by the motor 40, and the conveyor driving means comprises a bevel pinion keyed to the rear end of the motor shaft 60 (Fig. 4) and meshing with a bevel gear 156 having its hub journaled on bearings supported by a vertical shaft 157.

7 This shaft is suitably journaled in bearings supported within a gear housing 158 mounted on the main frame rearwardly of the motor 40. A conventional sliding toothed or gear clutch 159 serves to connect the gear 156 to the shaft 157 and this clutch is engaged by a shifter yoke 160 operated by connections including a hand lever 161 (Fig. 2) conveniently located 'exteriorly of the gear housing at one side of the main frame. Secured to the upper end of the shaft 157 is a spur gear 162 meshing with and driving a large spur gear 163 secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 164. This shaft is arranged in parallelism with the shaft 157 and is likewise suitably journaled within the gear housing 158. Formed on the shaft 164 beneath the gear 163 is a spur gear 165 meshing with a'large spur gear 166 which is connected by a conventional friction disc slip clutch 167 to a parallel vertical shaft 163, the latter likewise suitably journaled within the gear housing 158. This friction clutch is set to slip at a predetermined overload thereby to prevent damage to the conveyor and its drive gearing in the event the load on the conveyor becomes excessive. The shaft 168 is arranged coaxially with the swivel 122 of the rear conveyor frame 123 and has keyed thereto at its upper end a chain sprocket 169 which engages and drives the conveyor chain 131. Thus, the conveyor chain may be driven and is properly guided with respect to the swivel of the rear conveyor frame in all angular positions of the rear conveyor frame with respect to the front conveyor frame. The curved rear ends of the guide members 115 and the curved front ends 128 of the guide members 124 together with the curved plate 125 serve to guide the conveyor chain with respect to the drive sprocket 169 as the conveyor chain passes the swivel 122 of the rear conveyor frame, in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 1.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 9 and 10, a continuous mining apparatus quite like that above described is disclosed. In this instance, the apparatus is made somewhat lower in height for use in mines having extremely low headroom and a power swing for the swingable rear portion of the conveyor, in lieu of a manual swing, is provided. The rectangularshaped guide frame 41 for the endless loop cutter 43' is substantially lower in height than that of the embodiment first described, and the bracing strut, in this instance, extends nearly horizontally between the upper portion of the cutter frame and the top of the gear housing of the main frame, as shown in Fig. 10. Due to the lower height of the guide frame for the loop cutter, the coal breakers 75 and drills 76 are located near the top of the guide frame above the vertical center of the core formed by the loop cutter, although, if desired, the breaker wedges and drills may be lowered with respect to the main frame to compensate somewhat for the decrease in height of the upper portion of the cutter frame.

The general mode of-operation of the improved continuous mining apparatus is as follows: The apparatus may be trammed about the mine and maneuvered with respect to the face of the mine vein or coal seam by the creeper base 2 and when the apparatus is properly located at the face of the mine vein or coal seam, the roof and floor jacks 9 may be set to hold the skid 3 in a stationary position against the mine floor. The motor 4% is running during tramming and maneuvering of the apparatus so that pumping means is at that time operated to provide a source of liquid under pressure, and when the working face is reached and the apparatus is properly positioned with respect to the work the motor 40 is stopped. The clutch 67 is then shifted to connect the cutter chain :3, the'drills 77 and the breakerdevices 76 to the motor and the latter is again started thereby to effect drive of the cutter chain in its orbit and to rotate the drills and breaker wedges, and the conveyor 117 is concurrently circulated along its ,guideways. The operator may then manipulate the rotary control valve device -38 to effect supply of liquid under pressure to the front ends of the cylinders 29 thereby to feed the main frame 7, together with the elementssupported thereby, forwardly along a rectilinear path extending at right angles to the face of the mine vein or coal seam. As a result, the drills '77 form parallelholes in the coal face, and as the holes deepen, they are entered by the rotary wedge members 81 which act on the coal face to build up a powerful dislodging pressure within the coal, and asthe advance of the main frame continues, the endless loop cutter 43 cuts a kerf of rectangular shape between the floor and roof of the mine thereby forming a rectangular section or core of coal and as the .kerf or slot deepens, the coal section is freed at its margin so that the powerful dislodging pressure built up in the coal area defined by the kerf causes the coal to be dislodged from the face. As the main frame continues to advance, the cutting and dislodging functions will continue until the feed cylinders 29 reach their forward limit of travel. The roof and floor jacks 9 are then retracted and liquid under pressure may be supplied to the floor jacks 2% to tilt the forward end of the apparatus upwardly thereby to remove a major portion of the weight of the apparatus from the bottom skid while the rear end of the latter remains in supported contact with the mine floor, and liquid under pressure may then be supplied to the rear ends of the cylinders 29 to effect forward positioning movement of the skid beneath the main frame which at that time remains stationary. When the bottom skid again assumes its forward position beneath the main frame, the liquid is vented from the cylinders of the floor jacks 20 so that the weight of the apparatus is transferred back to the bottom skid, the roof jacks 9 are then again set, and liquid under pressure is again supplied to the forward ends of the feed cylinders 29 to feed the cutter, drills and breaker devices forwardly to resume the cutting and dislodging operations. Thus, the apparatus is advanced successively, step-by-step, in a forward direction along a straight path in a direction at right angles to the coal face. The feeding operations above described may occur automatically in a predetermined sequence or under manual control in the manners of the copending applications, Serial No. 146,885 and Serial No. 725,950, above referred to. The dislodged and disintegrated coal or other mineral as the apparatus is advanced falls rearwardly through the open-center 44 of the loop cutter frame 41 onto the horizontal receiving plate 103 where it is engaged by the transverse forward receiving portion of the conveyor 117 and moved laterally, upwardly and then rearwardly to the rear end of the apparatus, where it is discharged into a conventional shuttle car or onto other transportation means of the mine. The apparatus may be retracted from the face of the mine vein in the same step-by-step fashion as that above described, but with the events occurring in reverse order. By proper control of the creeper base, the apparatus may turn laterally either to the right or left as desired, and when it is desired to turn the apparatus completely around at the end of its mining operation in one direction and prior to the start of the mining operation in the reverse direction, the creeper base, in like manner, may turn, advance, or retract the apparatus to maneuver the same into its proper location. During operation of the apparatus, the discharge end of the conveyor may be swung laterally, either manually or by power, to vary its discharge position.

In the schematic views of Figs. 11 and 12, the coal or vein-breaking wedges or coal bursters are shown located at the'points A and B with respect to the core or section of coal to be dislodged designated C which is defined by the rectangular kerf or slot D. The breaker wedges as they are rotated are forced into the coal in an extremely powerful manner causing a tremendous dislodging pressure to be built up within the coal area defined so that when the margin of the coal area is relieved by the rectangularslot, the coal section is dislodged in an extremely effective manner. Evidently, as the breaker Wedges build up a powerful dislodging pressure within the coal area defined, fragments of the coal or other mineral are dislodged in the manner indicated by the lines of fracture at E in Fig. 12, so that a certain amount of coal may be dislodged from the face before the rectangular kerf completely frees the margin of the core of coal. As shown in Fig. 11, the upper horizontal portion of the rectangular kerf or slot extends along the roof level at F and the parallel bottom portion of the kerf forms the continuation of the mine floor at G and the vertical sides H of the rectangular kerf define the side walls of the mine passageway formed in the coal or other mineral.

As the result of this invention, an improved continuous mining apparatus 'is provided whereby the mineral such as coal of a solid mine vein or coal seam is dislodged and disintegrated without the necessity of blasting and whereby the dislodged mineral is conveyed in a substantially continuous manner away from the face to a suitable point of delivery. By the provision of the improved cutter head disclosed with its rectangular-shaped loop cutter and the wedge type breaker devices, the mineral of the solid mine vein or coal seam may be rapidly and efliciently dislodged and by the provision of the novel arrangement of the conveying means with respect to the cutter head the dislodged mineral or coal is rapidly conveyed rearwardly away from the face of the mine vein or coal seam to a suitable point of delivery at the rear end of the apparatus. By the provision of the novel arrangement of the breaker devices and the novel structure of the cutter head, a powerful dislodging pressure may be built up within the coal area defined by the kerf formed by the cutter so that when the coal area is freed at its mangin, it is effectively and quickly dislodged. These and other advantages of the invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

While there are in this application specifically described two forms which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that these forms of the same are shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a mining apparatus, the combination comprising a main frame adapted to advance in a forward direction along a straight path toward a face of a mine vein, means for advancing said frame, cutting mechanism comprising a rectangular-shaped guide frame mounted transversely at the forward portion of said main frame and having an open center and an endless loop cutter guided for circulation about said rectangular guide frame for forming a rectangular slot of uniform depth in the face of the mine vein as said main frame is advanced to form an opening in the mine vein of sufficicnt lateral and vertical extent to receive the apparatus, and dislodging devices mounted on said main frame to advance concurrently with the latter and comprising cooperating dislodging units extending longitudinally in parallelism and projecting within the open center of said guide frame, said dislodging units lying within the orbit of said loop cutter and engaging the mineral defined by said rectangular slot at laterally spaced points for building up a tremendous dislodging pressure within the defined section of mineral to dislodge the mineral, said units of said dislodging devices movable relative to said cutting mechanism and acting plurally from within the section of mineral defined by said slot in directions toward the peripheral boundaries of the mineral, said dislodging units arranged so as to substantially equally distribute the dislodging forces applied to the defined section of mineral completely to dislodge the latter with a bursting action when said section is relieved at its margin, and means for driving said dislodgingunits. to have the latter relative to said cutting mechanism to effect their dislodging function.

2. In a mining apparatus, the combination comprising a main frame adapted to advance in a forward direction along a straight path toward a face of a mine vein, means for advancing said frame, cutting mechanism comprising a rectangular-shaped guide frame mounted transversely at the forward portion of said main frame and having an open center and an endless loop cutter guided for circulation about said rectangular guide frame for forming a rectangular slot of uniform depth in the face of the mine vein as said main frame is advanced to define a section of mineral which when removed forms an opening in the mine vein of suflicient lateral and vertical extent to receive the apparatus, mechanical dislodging mechanism comprising a pair of cooperating dislodging devices mounted on said main frame and projecting within the open center of said guide frame and lying within the orbit of said loop cutter for engagingth'e section of mineral defined by said rectangular slot at laterally spaced points for building up a tremendous dislodging pressure in the defined section of mineral to dislodge the mineral, said dislodging devices spaced equidistantly from the longitudinal median line of said main frame and located substantially midway between the top and bottom of said guide frame and the forward portions of said devices projecting forwardly a substantial distance in advance of said loop cutter, and driving means for said dislodging devices for moving the latter relative to said cutting mechanism to eifect their dislodging function, said dislodging devices acting from within the mineral defined by said slot to apply the dislodging pressure thereto in directions toward the peripheral boundaries thereof completely to disrupt the defined section of mineral.

3. In a mining apparatus, the combination comprising a support movable over the floor of a mine, a core cutting head carried by said support and having rectangular slot cutting means for cutting horizontal slots parallel with the roof and floor and vertical slots parallel with the sidewalls of a mine passageway of-rectangular cross section to provide a continuation of said'passageway as mining progresses, said slots being of uniform depth inwardly of the face of the mine vein and cooperating to form 9. rectangular core of mineral attached only at its inner side to the solid vein, cooperating core dislodging devices car ried by said support and extending within the open center of the rectangular core cutting means for engaging the core intermediate the top and bottom and the sides thereof, said dislodging devices being horizontally and longitudinally disposed on said support and spaced equidistantly from the longitudinal median line of the apparatus and each including drilling and wedging means, said dislodging devices cooperating to apply a powerful dislodging pressure to the core of mineral outlined by said slots, the dislodging pressure acting from within the core in directions toward the peripheral boundaries thereof completely to disrupt the core with a bursting action, said dislodging devices engaging the core at laterally spaced points substantially equally to distribute the bursting pressures to the mineral to be disrupted, means for driving said dislodging devices to move the latter relative to said slot cutting means to effect their dislodging function, and power operated feeding devices for moving said core cutting means and said dislodging devices forwardly in unison to feed the same into the mineral of a solid mine vein to efiect the core cutting and dislodging operations.

4. 'In a mining apparatus, the combination comprising a s pp t mo a le e he d o f mine We tt n means comprising a reetangular shaped guide frame mounted transversely at the forward portion of said support and having its sides spaged equidistantlyfrom the longitudinal median line of the apparatus, said frame having an open center and an endless loop cutter guided for orbital circulation about said rectangular guide frame for forming a rectangular slot of uniform depth in the r H face of amine vein, to definea rectangular core of mine'ral" attached only at its inner side to the. solid vein, multiple core dislodging devices mounted on said support and; projecting longitudinally Within the open center of said guide frame for engaging the core of mineral defined by said rectangular slot at Widely spaced points and co,

operating to apply a dislodging pressure from within the core in directions toward the peripheral boundaries thereof for completely dislodgin g the mineral with a bursting action, driving means for said dislodging devices for moving the latter relative to said core cutting means to eifect their dislodging function, and means for advancing said support to feed said cutting means and said dislodging devices concurrently into the mineral.

Morgan Nov. 3, 1914 Kuhn et a1 May 23, 1916,

12 Joy July 30, 1918. Morgan Dec. 16, 1919 Dana Dec. 30,1919. Joy Feb. 13, 1923 Peale Sept. 2, 1924 Morgan Jan. 13, 1925 McNeil Aug. 18, 1925 Morgan Aug. 16, 1927 Morgan Nov. 22, 1927 Newdick June 12, 1928 McKinlay Sept. 3, 1929 Fleming June 2, 1931 Joy Sept. 21, 1937 Cartlidge Oct. 1, 1940 Simmons Jan. 13, 1942 Levin Apr. 28, 1942 Mavor May 20, 1947 Cartlidge June 27, 1950 Compton July 31, 1951 

